The Quick Q & A editorial in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine is a much loved regular feature, in which we ask 6 artists the same 4 questions. In the 10th Anniversary September 2023 Issue 42, these were the Quick Q & A questions:
- How do you approach the creative process and what is your process like?
- What’s one of your biggest regrets as an artist?
- What impact has the contemporary art scene had on your work?
- How do you engage with your audience and foster a relationship with your fans?
We feel that the artists’ responses provide such a valuable insight for our community of artists that we wanted to share one Quick Q & A response from each issue with you, going forward. The September 2023 Issue 42 print issue is sold out, but you can download the digital magazine via our webstore to read more. To ensure you never miss an issue again, you can also subscribe to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, and have each issue sent straight to your door each quarter.
Excerpt from Issue 42 // September 2023 Quick Q & A editorial: Kristy Moreno, Sofía Bonati, Kremena Chipilova [2nd Prize Winner, RAYMAR Traditional Art Award, 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize], Monica Ikegwu, Sooj Mitton, and Laurie Hogin, all respond to the below Quick Q & A:
Quick Q & A: What’s one of your biggest regrets as an artist?
“One of my biggest regrets would be not asking working
artists more questions and advice regarding their studio
practices in order to find out what works for them. I think as artists we need a community to count on and we need to find mentors who are open to providing some guidance along the way. Asking the right question and being upfront about what you don’t know will give you a better sense of what your career could become. Thankfully, I’ve learned from this and now I try my best to be more open and honest when it comes to seeking advice, because I’ve found that people are willing to share more than I’d like to assume.”
“Probably that I didn’t pursue a formal education as an artist – having dedicated enough time during the earlier days to explore a wider range of techniques and styles. I only did a semester of art school and one year of graphic design. I sometimes feel my art is mostly a consequence of the spectrum of things I knew, liked and was skillful at when I started to take my career more seriously. And even though it evolved during these years, I sometimes feel it got stuck somehow. I never had a chance to learn sculpting, printmaking, or different watercolour/oil techniques. I’d love to spend more time experimenting with different materials and try to loosen up a bit and move out of my comfort zone.”
“Regret is a strong word but sometimes I wish I had started earlier – I studied landscape architecture and worked odd jobs (nursery garden, pet shop, restaurant) before seeing an ad for a caricaturist, which is where it started. I also wish I had formal art education instead of landscape architecture, because it would have given me structure, and I wouldn’t have to hunt down information and tutorials from all over the place like I did when I first started in art. Another one is that I wish I could go to my favourite galleries’ exhibition openings, and feel the atmosphere and get inspired by seeing the paintings in person – I think this way I would be better able to experience them.”
“I wouldn’t say I have any regrets, but if there was something that I wish I could do more, it would be making more genuine connections with people. As a painter, I work in solitude and spend up to ten hours working almost every day. I started my art practice relatively early, around the age of 20, and the cycle of continuous work has isolated me a bit. Since a great majority of my time is taken up by my art practice, I never really get the chance to develop full relationships with people or go out as much as I would like to. But I will say that I cherish the small moments with people a lot more though.”
“I, thankfully, don’t have any regrets. I have come close though. I was a little lost in my early thirties, not sure what I wanted to do with my life. I still loved my job of tattooing after thirteen years but had become complacent and felt stuck. I ended up seeing two psychics, both told me the same thing, art is what I needed to be doing.
That if I didn’t pull my socks up, one day I would wake up in my fifties regretting that I didn’t start painting back in my thirties and many opportunities would be missed. What was I waiting for? So, I moved states, started my new art career and never looked back. Mind you, I learnt my biggest lessons and sacrificed a lot by choosing this path.”
“That one’s easy – I rather regret being such a homebody! Social relationships are part of any career, but I never sought out or prioritised relationships that would have allowed me to engage in a careerist strategy more thoroughly and productively. Rather, I’ve allowed my reclusive nature to keep me where I’ve been happiest – in my studio in the prairie, near the woods, with my books, computer, art materials, and dogs, with teaching as my social practice. And when I say “reclusive”, I don’t mean I’m not sociable or outgoing – I am, extremely – but only in very short bursts, after which I need hours of solitude (or time with just me, my spouse, and our kid) to recover. I must resolve to get out more!”
